Slog
News & ArtsTuesday, December 18, 2012
Death 200 bullets in 10 minutes
Posted by Charles Mudede on Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 9:46 AM
Slate estimates that Adam Lanza fired 200 bullets in what amounts to no time...
According to police in Newtown, Conn., Adam Lanza blasted his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday with three semi-automatic weapons, numerous 30-round magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He killed 20 children and six adults. But that isn’t the chilling number. The chilling number is how long it took him to inflict this carnage: just 10 minutes.
It's hard to believe that the politics of gun control will not change in this country after this tragedy. It's just too hard to get around or ignore the corpses of so many children. Not only, as Eli pointed out, is Wall Street sensing the rumblings of massive social change on this issue, but also politicians, new polls, and gun dealers and buyers...
If the NRA survives this tragedy without a dent, then I will have to conclude that the organization is indeed unstoppable and guns are here to stay.
17
Canada does not have twice as many guns per capita. US as 88/100. Canada has 31/100.
It's cultural. Too many Americans have this stupid idea that they can be a Hollywood hero if somebody has a gun. It's sickening that some pro-gun group said that if the teacher had been armed, then it wouldn't have been a tragedy. Uh, no? Give a panicked civilian a gun and the most likely thing she would do is shoot a wall, shoot herself or shoot one of her students.
It's cultural. Too many Americans have this stupid idea that they can be a Hollywood hero if somebody has a gun. It's sickening that some pro-gun group said that if the teacher had been armed, then it wouldn't have been a tragedy. Uh, no? Give a panicked civilian a gun and the most likely thing she would do is shoot a wall, shoot herself or shoot one of her students.
16
Nobody limits guns. I mean, Canada has twice as many guns per capita than the US does.
They just don't use them to slaughter innocent kids.
You call that "marxism". I call it "civilization".
They just don't use them to slaughter innocent kids.
You call that "marxism". I call it "civilization".
15
Here's a passing thought which might intrigue Charles.
I see new political parties rising from this. The gun-limitters and the gun-huggers seem to split both the D's and R's.
I see new political parties rising from this. The gun-limitters and the gun-huggers seem to split both the D's and R's.
14
Hey Charles how many bullets did your father's buddy Mugabe pump into white farmers, their wives and children?
How many bullets have Marxist ordered fired into civilians?
How many bullets have Marxist ordered fired into civilians?
13
@12
"Just ask anyone in a civilized country what I mean, @11."
Did I not just do that?
You have contradicted yourself in your posts.
"Same goes for the difference between a 6 shot revolver or a 5 round pistol."
So no semi-automatic handguns?
"I'd just leave it at rifles."
Semi-automatic handguns are okay?
"You're being deliberately obtuse."
I would think that a simple "yes" or "no" would be easy to post but I guess that would require that you understood what you were posting.
"Just ask anyone in a civilized country what I mean, @11."
Did I not just do that?
You have contradicted yourself in your posts.
"Same goes for the difference between a 6 shot revolver or a 5 round pistol."
So no semi-automatic handguns?
"I'd just leave it at rifles."
Semi-automatic handguns are okay?
"You're being deliberately obtuse."
I would think that a simple "yes" or "no" would be easy to post but I guess that would require that you understood what you were posting.
12
Just ask anyone in a civilized country what I mean, @11.
You're being deliberately obtuse. It's not amusing.
You're being deliberately obtuse. It's not amusing.
11
@10
You've lost me.
Semi-automatic handguns are okay?
But rifles (and carbines?) would be limited on ammo capacity and could not be semi-automatic?
You've lost me.
Semi-automatic handguns are okay?
But rifles (and carbines?) would be limited on ammo capacity and could not be semi-automatic?
10
@8 actually, handguns are mostly used to shoot other people. Usually relatives. I'd just leave it at rifles.
9
Still would have slowed him down enough so the first responders, which included cops, could have taken him out a lot sooner.
You don't need full auto or even semi-auto to hunt. Bolt action works just as well.
You don't need full auto or even semi-auto to hunt. Bolt action works just as well.
8
@6
Are you suggesting a complete ban on semi-automatic handguns?
Leaving only revolvers?
Not sure what you mean by "5 round pistol"?
Is that one without a removable magazine?
Are you suggesting a complete ban on semi-automatic handguns?
Leaving only revolvers?
Not sure what you mean by "5 round pistol"?
Is that one without a removable magazine?
7
@5,
Except he had to go room to room. One teacher holed herself up in the bathroom with her students while he pounded on the door, demanding they let him in. Another teacher hid her students in cabinets and lied to him, telling him they were at the gym. It wasn't weapons free the entire time. Only when he happened to find a dozen five year olds in one room.
Except he had to go room to room. One teacher holed herself up in the bathroom with her students while he pounded on the door, demanding they let him in. Another teacher hid her students in cabinets and lied to him, telling him they were at the gym. It wasn't weapons free the entire time. Only when he happened to find a dozen five year olds in one room.
6
If you had to use a bolt action rifle and take 4-5 seconds per shot, with a 3 round clip, or even a 5 round clip, your fire ratio would drop quite a bit.
The deer would still be just as dead.
But a lot of kids wouldn't.
Same goes for the difference between a 6 shot revolver or a 5 round pistol. It was the gun jam in the mall down in Portland that saved all those people, while he reloaded.
The deer would still be just as dead.
But a lot of kids wouldn't.
Same goes for the difference between a 6 shot revolver or a 5 round pistol. It was the gun jam in the mall down in Portland that saved all those people, while he reloaded.
5
10 minutes for 200 rounds is actually a very slow methodical shooting rate. (every 3 seconds). Go ahead do something (anything, tap your finger on your desk) every three seconds.
More importantly (to me) is this really makes it hard to argue anything about high capacity magazines or the like. I can easily shoot at that rate with a revolver, and carrying the ammo is just as easy.
I'm not against gun control laws, but I really don't see what law could have prevented this tragedy.
More importantly (to me) is this really makes it hard to argue anything about high capacity magazines or the like. I can easily shoot at that rate with a revolver, and carrying the ammo is just as easy.
I'm not against gun control laws, but I really don't see what law could have prevented this tragedy.
4
I used to go through 200 rounds on a 9mm Browning SMG in about 2 minutes. My Fabrique Nationale (FN) C2 burned thru 30 rounds per clip in 2-3 round bursts ... let me think ... 200 7.62 mm with aiming when I was in clear sight ... in about 3 minutes. Took longer to aim.
10 minutes is an eternity when you have full auto.
10 minutes is an eternity when you have full auto.
3
@1, you think people who run out to buy guns after a massacre are less likely to be NRA members than the average gun purchaser?
2
This is exactly what these weapons were manufactured for. They allow the possessor to kill a maximum number of people in the shortest amount of time.
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